Archive

March 6, 2009
PRESS RELEASE: In recognition of National Patient Safety Week March 8-
14 the American Society of Anesthesiologists and the Anesthesia Awareness
Campaign, are working together to educate patients on the occurrence and
treatment of anesthesia awareness.
Read the press release here.

ANESTHESIA AWARENESS NEEDS YOU!
Please read some special news about the Campaign,our special financial
needs, its President’s “challenges” , and how important you are to
bringing awareness to awareness!Read here.

CAROL WEIHRER'S RECENT APPEARANCES:
Carol Weihrer appeared on on ABC's talk show The View on March 31, 2008.

On March 27, 2008, Carol Weihrer was honored to be invited to be one of
two panelists at a Congressional senior staffer briefing on March 25.
It has been suggested that victims add to their “action list” a letter
to their Senators and Congressmen in Washington about your awareness,
the severity of the problem and the need for it to be addressed. We are
hoping to eventually speak before a relevant committee in formal
hearings! Thanks for your efforts to bring awareness to awareness.

On Wednesday, December 12. 2007, Anesthesia Awareness President, Carol Weihrer, appeared on Larry King Live and participated in a panel discussion on Anesthesia Awareness.

ESSAY: MY EXPERIENCE WITH GENERAL ANESTHESIA SURGERY AFTER A PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE WITH ANESTHESIA AWARENESS
On January 20, 2008, Anesthesia Awareness President and Founder Carol
Weihrer underwent general anesthesia surgery. Read her Essay on this experience.

IN LOVING MEMORY OF MY FATHER, ARTHUR H. WEIHRER, JR.I
am thrilled to share the news that through the generous support of
friends of my father and his family, his immediate family (especially
my mother, Anna Lea Weihrer), and Aspect Medical Systems, the
Anesthesia Awareness Campaign is announcing the donation of six
Bi-Spectral Index Monitors to Frederick Surgical Center in Frederick,
Maryland. The donation will take place on August 10, 2006, at the
Frederick Surgical Center.

I’m
hoping that the occasion will inspire Anesthesia Awareness victims, the
public, and the medical community everywhere to understand that patient
advocacy does make a difference; and if we can all work
together, we can see to it that this patient safety technology is
available in all hospitals and surgery centers across the country.

The Anesthesia Awareness Campaign wants to bring awareness to awareness!The October 2005 ASA Advisory on Brain Activity Monitoring gives lip service to anesthesia awareness, but has no real teeth. Since
the ASA Practice Advisory on Brain Activity Monitoring does not
suggest, encourage, or mandate the availability of brain activity
monitors in all hospitals, it would be difficult for those individual
anesthesiologists "who choose to use monitoring on a case by case
basis" to exercise that judgment if the hospital has no monitors
available. This Campaign continues to encourage the ASA to strengthen
the Practice Advisory by mandating the availability of brain activity
monitors in all general anesthesia operating facilities.

ASA INTERACTIONS

Are You Asleep?The Washington Post
April 18, 2006

The
American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) has advised members to
respect patient complaints of "intraoperative awareness" -- being awake
during surgery -- after major newspapers documented the problem.
Awareness occurs in one or two of every 1,000 surgeries under general
anesthesia, says the ASA. It recommends doctors check patients more
carefully, before, during and after an operation, and treat complaints
with compassion. But it stopped short of urging doctors to use
brain-wave monitors, which have been found to cut the risk of
unintended awakening by 80 percent.

DID YOU KNOW?

New
ASA "advisory" standards no longer require anesthesiologists to ask if
a patient has any memory of their surgery - a giant step backward from
the suggestions in the JCAHO Sentinel Event Alert Issue 32 of October
2004.

IN LOVING MEMORY:

My father, Arthur
Weihrer, died late on Friday, May 12, 2006. His wife has requested that
in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions be made to the Anesthesia
Awareness Campaign, Inc.

The A/A President's wishes to honor
him are to purchase a BIS Monitor for the local hospital serving him
and my mother, and/or to re-order more Anesthesia Awareness med-alert
bracelets.

If every person who has been touched by the Anesthesia Awareness
Campaign made even a small donation, we would have money to take care
of our needs. Thank you for considering helping us carry out our
work.

Can you help with these Anesthesia Awareness Campaign needs?

new laptop computer

electronic postage scale

money for postage - always a need

4.05 sends one priority package

8.10 sends literature to one group

4.05 pays for postage to deliver one A/A med alert bracelet

helping those in need:
$24.00 provides an A/A med alert bracelet to one victim who cannot afford to buy one

Communication needs

30.00 pays for Internet site hosting for one month

50.00 pays for domain name for one year

25.00 pays for e-mail services

March 13-15,2008
ANESTHESIA AWARENESS PRESIDENT ATTENDED MAA7 MEETING IN GERMANY
Anesthesia Awareness Campaign is pleased to announce and honored that
AAC President, Carol Weihrer, was invited to address the MAA7 meeting
in Munich, Germany from March 13-15, 2008. The MAA(C) is a continuing
symposium that normally meets every three years. She was honored to
speak at the 2004 meeting in Hull, England.

February 25, 2008
On February 19th Anesthesia Awareness President Carol underwent
emergency surgery. There were some serious complications that nearly
took her life, but she pulled through valiantly and is recovering in
the hospital, where she will remain for several more days. After that,
she will continue convalescing at home. During the next few months, her
availability will be limited and she will be unable to assist everyone
with the speed and regularity she typically exhibits.

She
requests patience, understanding, and well wishes through her recovery
time. It will be some time before she is back and operating at full
capacity. She asks that if you need to contact her, please do so by email
instead of phone. She won't be able to respond as quickly as she wishes
she could, but will make her best effort. During this time, she needs
to focus on her health so she can continue to be a valuable resource
and advocate.

January 7, 2008ANESTHESIA AWARENESS CAMPAIGN ATTENDS ORAL ARGUMENTS IN SUPREME COURT LETHAL INJECTION CASE.Oral arguments in Baze v. Rees were heard by the U.S. Supreme Court on January 7, 2008. Anesthesia Awareness campaign filed an amicus brief with the court in that case. Carol Weihrer attended oral arguments and here are her thoughts:

Going
to the U.S. Supreme Court was quite an experience! I doubt anyone,
especially me, ever foresees hearing oral arguments in person on a
topic with which they are intimately involved, and have had the
privilege of being asked to submit an amicus brief to the Court. The
ruling will not come out until late Spring or early Summer. Many, many
people worked extremely hard on this project, and all are to be
commended.

December 12, 2007CAROL WEIHRER ON LARRY KING LIVE TO DISCUSS ANESTHESIA AWARENESS
On Wednesday, December 12th, Anesthesia Awareness President, Carol
Weihrer, appeared on Larry King Live and participated in a panel
discussion on Anesthesia Awareness. Information on The Larry King Live
show can be found by clicking here.

December 1, 2007
GOODMORNING AMERICA (ABC) COVERS ANESTHESIA AWARENESS ON DECEMBER 1ST.The ABC Morning Show Good Morning America covered the issue of anesthesia awareness on December 1, 2007.
November 12, 2007
ANESTHESIA AWARENESS CAMPAIGN FILES AMICUS BRIEF IN SUPREME COURT LETHAL INJECTION CASE. On November 13, 2007 Anesthesia Awareness Campaign filed an amicusbrief with the United States Supreme Court in the Baze v. Rees
lethal injection litigation case. The brief provides information on
anesthesia awareness, the physical and psychological pain that results
from the experience, and the safeguards that can be employed to
minimize the risk of this horrible medical complication occurring. The
brief was filed because the execution protocol at issue in the case
carries the risk of anesthesia awareness. The position of the
Anesthesia Awareness Campaign is that lethal injection protocols should
not use paralyzing drugs, and nobody should ever be subjected to the
risk of having conscious paralysis inflicted upon them.

November 30, 2007"AWAKE" OPENES
Anesthesia Awareness Campaign is working to help this fictional movie
also serve as an educational tool for the prevention and treatment of
anesthesia awareness.www.awakethemovie.com

The Anesthesia Awareness President has seen the premier of the movie. Here are her thoughts:

While
Awake is a fictional movie, it deals with a very real medical problem.
Many interviews will be appearing about my thoughts on the movie.
Please check back for coverage.

CAUTION: Known victims of anesthesia awareness should think carefully about whether to see this movie or not. In my opinion, no victim
of awareness should see this movie alone and perhaps not until a close
friend or family member has seen it and given their personal advice.

For the third year in a row, the President of the Anesthesia Awareness
Campaign attended the Annual Meeting of the American Society of
Anesthesiologists. This year's meeting was held in San Francisco.

This year the Anesthesia Awareness Campaign had an educational exhibit.

PLANS FOR 2007!After
nine years of advocacy, offering help, speaking out, traveling, and
networking, 2007 promises to be a banner year for The Anesthesia
Awareness Campaign! Here are a few of things we plan to do:

Expand the number of A/A med alert bracelets worn by victims

My articles was published in the April issue of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Newsletter

Find some serious financial backing (remember, we are a nonprofit, so your donations are tax-deductible

Attend meeting on "Seeing Your Way Clear to Apology and Disclosure" in Chicago in June

Meet with AANA leadership in Chicago in June

Exhibit at the October 2007 ASA Annual Meeting in San Francisco

A COMMITMENT FINALLY MADE - PERSONALLY AND PUBLICLY

"What is the title of your book?"

"When are you going to write a book?"

"You really should write a book."

"A book is the best thing you can do to bring awareness to awareness."

"Why haven't you written a book?"

"You have to write a book."

I
have heard these statements time and time again. In fact, I refer to
it as "the B word." Well, the time has come, and the best way to push
forward is to make a public commitment. So, here it is:

I'm working on a book!

Carol

August 10, 2006WHILE
THE TERROR LEVEL FOR INTERNATIONAL AIR FLIGHTS IS RED,WHILE WAR RAGES
AROUND THE WORLD, AND THE U.N. SEEKS PEACE,THE DANGER OF ANESTHESIA
AWARENESS IS REDUCED IN A GROWING CITY IN MARYLAND THROUGH QUIET
PATIENT ADVOCACY

Brain Monitoring Technology to Help Prevent Patients Waking Up During Surgery

Frederick,
MD – At a unique ceremony held on August 10, 2006, Frederick Surgical
Center received a donation of seven Bi-Spectral Index (BIS) Monitors
given by The Anesthesia Awareness Campaign (through memorial donations
and family contributions) and Aspect Medical Systems of Boston. The
Bi-Spectral Index Monitor is used to determine the level of
consciousness in patients undergoing general anesthesia; the end result
being a greater-than 80% prevention of anesthesia awareness. Anesthesia
awareness is the terrifying phenomenon of being mentally alert and
awake during surgery, but completely unable to communicate due to the
use of paralytic drugs.

The
donation is made to honor the memory of Arthur H. Weihrer, Jr., who
passed away in May 2006. Mr. Weihrer, in addition to being a musician,
teacher of emotionally challenged children and well-known wood
sculptor, was a long-time volunteer at Frederick Memorial Hospital and
had strong ties to Frederick Surgical Center. Mr. Weihrer’s daughter,
Carol Weihrer, is the President and Founder of The Anesthesia Awareness
Campaign, which she launched after awakening during a 5½-hour eye
surgery to remove her right eye in 1998. He is also survived by his
wife of 56 years, Anna Lea Weihrer, of Thurmont, Maryland. The family
moved to Thurmont from Oxon Hill, Maryland, in 1972.

The
special ceremony was attended by approximately 25 friends of the
Weihrer family, clergy from Mrs. Weihrer’s and Carol’s churches; Dr.
Paul Manberg, Vice President of Aspect Medical Systems of Newton, MA;
anesthesiologists Dr. Mark Seymour and Dr. Won Lee (also Medical
Director of Frederick Surgical Center) affiliated with both the
Surgical Center and Frederick Memorial Hospital (FMH), Vice President
and CFO of FMH Bill Pugh; FMH Vice President for Medical Affairs Dr.
Chet Wyman; Surgical Center Director Barbara Smith; and Surgery Center
Director of Surgical Services Marjorie Blouin; and the staff of the
Surgical Center. Flanked by prayers offered by The Rev. Richard Broome
of Weller United Methodist Church in Thurmont, MD, and The Rev. Michael
Denham of The National Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C.,
surgical Center Administrator Barbara Smith introduced the dignitaries
present, followed by statements by Ms. Weihrer, Dr. Manberg, and Dr.
Lee and Dr. Seymour.

After these
short informal speeches, the formal donation, consisting of seven
Bi-Spectral Index Monitors, 700 one-use sensors, and full training of
all Center anesthesia and nursing staff was completed.

The
Frederick Surgical Center graciously provided an extensive and
much-appreciated buffet following the event. Both Center Administrator
Barbara Smith and Director of Surgical services Marjorie Blouin spent
many hours preparing this special event and creating a warm atmosphere.
In addition, Mrs. Anna Lea Weihrer made available a large assortment of
her late husband’s woodwork, from which those in attendance were
invited to select a piece to keep, while a portrait of Arthur Henry
Weihrer, Jr., was placed for all to see. The corsages worn by his wife
and daughter were later taken to the Resthaven Memorial Gardens, north
of Frederick, and placed on his grave.

The
brain activity monitors will be installed and all staff trained on the
use of the BIS technology on August 28, 2006, and will then be used in
each of the Frederick Surgical Center’s operating and procedure rooms.
Frederick Surgical Center is now the only outpatient surgical center in
the area with BIS Monitors, and one of only a few in the country to use
this vital technology. Prior to the actual ceremony, a live volunteer
was actually hooked up to the monitor, most accurately assessing her
brain activity (while resting) at 98 out of a possible 100: 100 being
fully active and alert, 0 indicating deep coma or death, and 40-60
being the desired range for most general anesthesia surgical patients.

Ms.
Weihrer said, "I get calls every day from people who have experienced
anesthesia awareness, but now I know I won’t be receiving any from area
code 301—Frederick. With this donation, together with the monitors
already in place at Frederick Memorial Hospital, the people in this
community can rest easy that it won’t happen to them."

"I’m
also hoping that this occasion will inspire anesthesia awareness
victims, the public, and the medical community everywhere to
understand that patient advocacy does make a difference," Ms.
Weihrer continued, "and if we can all work together, we can see to it
that this patient safety technology is available in all hospitals
and surgery centers across the country."

Dr.
Paul Manberg, Aspect Medical System’s Vice President of Clinical,
Regulatory and Quality Assurance, said, "Carol has been one of the
greatest influences in changing the anesthesia field. And she’s taught
me a valuable lesson. I always used to look at science and studies, but
she is a patient who’s had awareness. On the surface, it may seem like
a small number statistically, but anesthesia awareness is very real to
each person it happens to. This donation is to honor Carol’s dedication
and to salute her father, who had done so much good work in this
community."

Dr. Won Lee, Medical
Director at Frederick Surgical Center, and an anesthesiologist, said,
"We’re indebted to Carol for organizing the BIS monitor donation, and
to Dr. Manberg and Aspect Medical Systems for donating such a generous
gift. We’re very serious about patient safety and awareness at
Frederick Surgical Center, and will make every effort to prevent
anesthesia awareness here for our patients."

Dr.
Mark Seymour, head of Anesthesiology at FMH and a part of the FSC,
first came into contact with Ms. Weihrer in 2005, when her mother had
serious spinal surgery at FMH. As a result of this
doctor/patient/advocate acquaintance, this donation seed was sewn. "I
remember getting a call from Carol, and thinking, ‘O here we go with
another worried family member.’ I assured Carol that FMH had brain
monitoring equipment and it would be used, and that I would try to
personally handle her case. Then, when I met Mrs. Weihrer on the
morning of her surgery," he laughingly recalled, "she was covered in
stickers – all over her face, up and down her arms, on her hat saying
that she was aware of anesthesia awareness and not to let it happen to
her – in fact I had to leave the room for a minute. Carol and I then
discussed anesthesia awareness."

Seymour
continued, "Awareness is very real. It does happen and it has a
devastating effect. In fact, my own son suffered awareness during a
childhood tonsillectomy, and to this day I have trouble getting him to
even come to the hospital to hang around with me."

Even Dr. Seymour didn’t know that in that very room – those 40-50 people – were three additional
victims of anesthesia awareness, two of whom had spoken of their
experiences for the first time. Victims, as such, were not specifically
invited.

An estimated 20 million
patients in the U.S. have surgery under anesthesia each year. Making
sure patients receive the correct amount of anesthesia can be difficult
for doctors – too little can cause "unintended intraoperative awareness
with recall" -- unexpected consciousness during surgery with memory of
the experience and in many cases the actual pain. Over 50% of reported
awareness victims go on to suffer Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
(PTSD), and of that 50%, 80% never recover. New research has shown that
1 to 2 patients out of every thousand receiving general anesthesia will
experience awareness with recall, which translates to between 100-200
reported cases of anesthesia awareness occurring every operating day
nationwide.

In 2004 the Food &
Drug Administration (FDA) endorsed BIS monitoring for use in reducing
the risk of intraoperative awareness with recall, more commonly known
as "anesthesia awareness." BIS monitoring is the first and only
technology to receive such federal clearance for helping clinicians
reduce the risk of adult patients unintentionally waking up while under
general anesthesia and sedation. Clinical trials demonstrated
BIS-guided anesthesia reduced the risk of awareness with recall by
approximately 80 percent.

Ms.
Weihrer is thrilled to know that patients at The Frederick Surgical
Center and FMH undergoing full general anesthesia during surgery will
be virtually assured of receiving adequate sedation, thanks to the use
of BIS technology in addition to the careful vigilance and expertise of
their anesthesiologists.

Ms. Weihrer
hopes that this donation will inspire others to take whatever means
necessary to ensure that anesthesia awareness will become a threat of
the past through widespread and mandatory use of brain activity
monitoring technology. Patients whose lives have already been and
continue to be severely affected by the trauma of anesthesia awareness
are more than enough incentive to stop awareness in its tracks! The
Anesthesia Awareness Campaign encourages this type of strong patient
advocacy leadership worldwide.

In loving memory of . . .

The
entire presentation idea was to honor, through active patient advocacy,
the memory of Arthur Henry Weihrer, Jr., (November 1. 1927 - May 12,
2006). "Art" was born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, served in the US Air
Force as a trombonist in Air Force bands, started his career by playing
trombone in big bands and, after earning both Bachelor’s and Master’s
of Music degrees from West Virginia University in Morgantown, West
Virginia, where he met his wife, Anna Lea Allman Bucklew, started a
band program in LaPlata, Maryland. The Weihrer family lived in Walton,
West Virginia; Dublin, Virginia; Indian Head, Maryland; Oxon Hill
Maryland; and finally moving to Thurmont, Maryland, where they lived
since 1972. In addition to his musical talents, "Art" discovered a
talent for sculpture – starting in clay, studying 3 dimensional and bas
relief woodwork at The Corcoran Gallery of Art with Heinz Werneke (who
carved the 12 Apostles for the National Cathedral in Washington, DC).
While still using chissels and mallet to work in large pieces of
hardwoods in the bas relief tradition, he also developed his own style
of making "Art in Wood" – varied and unusual pieces of jewelry and
freestanding pieces. One of his most outstanding legacies is six panels
of Christian symbols still in place on three corner entrances to Wesley
United Methodist Church in Morgantown, WV.

His
wife of 56 years, Anna Lea, is notable as a pioneer in the use of math
and the earliest computers to design rockets. She later wrote the
program that allowed electrocardiographs to be read by computer,
assisting in the early NASA flights. She finished her illustrious
career by serving with the Army at Walter Reed with TRIMIS, a
tri-service medical information system, a military-wide program to
standardize the use of computers in medicine for the three US Military
services. Anna Lea, affectionately known as "The General," is civilian
graduate of the Armed Forces Staff War College. After her retirement,
she worked with Ward Systems of Frederick, Maryland, in artificial
intelligence neural networks.

For more information:

BIS
technology is marketed and distributed by Aspect Medical Systems, Inc.
(NASDAQ: ASPM), a global-market leader in brain monitoring technology.
For more information visit Aspect’s Web site at http://www.aspectmedical.com/. For more information about Carol Weihrer, The Anesthesia Awareness Campaign, and anesthesia awareness information, visit www.anesthesiaawareness.com.

This
article has been expanded from a prepared press release written by
Ellie Whims of Robin Jones Marketing and Public Relations of Frederick,
Maryland, and the members of the Public Relations department of Aspect
Medical Systems.
Carol Weihrer is the contributor to this more personal article.

The
Anesthesia Awareness Campaign, Inc., www.anesthesiaawareness.com, a
non-profit patient education and advocacy organization, today applauds
the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) for their July 12,
2005, issuance of a publicly available "Draft Report from the ASA Task
Force on Intraoperative Awareness and Brain Function Monitoring." This
document is accompanied by a provocative letter from ASA President
Eugene P. Sinclair, M.D., describing factors that anesthesiologists
should consider when deciding on the use of currently available brain
activity monitors that can help detect, and therefore prevent, the
devastating effects of Anesthesia Awareness. Both documents are
available at www.asahq.org.

While
delighted with the ASA's new open approach to allow commentary on the
Anesthesia Awareness debate, The Anesthesia Awareness Campaign believes
that the ASA communications still do not go far enough in committing
the anesthesia profession to any specific goals for improvement from
current practice, which allows 100 patients per day in the US alone to
experience awareness during general anesthesia.

Anesthesia
Awareness is a term used to describe the phenomenon of being mentally
aware and able to think and hear and feel while totally physically
incapacitated by paralytic drugs during a surgical procedure in which
the desired result is "reversible oblivion" or unconsciousness. "We
hear directly from the victims of this devastating event on a regular
and ongoing basis," says Carol Weihrer, President of the Reston,
Virginia, based Anesthesia Awareness Campaign. Weihrer states, "I have
personally spoken with over 2500 victims of anesthesia awareness since
the Campaign's founding in 1998. In fact, I spoke with two new cases on
July 13, 2005."

Many awareness victims go on to develop serious
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), similar to that experienced by
veterans of war or survivors of horrific disasters such as "9/11."
These unfortunate and innocent people relive, sometimes daily, the
helplessness and terror and loss of control experienced during their
awareness experience.

Dr.
Sinclair poses the question: "Why not use brain monitors?" and
acknowledges that this is difficult for anesthesiologists to answer.
The Task Force document presents an exhaustive review of the scientific
literature and cites a 2500-patient study showing an 80% reduction in
the incidence of awareness when brain monitoring is used; but the Task
Force then advises members that this information is "insufficient" to
recommend use of brain monitoring. However, elsewhere in the document,
they recommend use of unproven tranquilizers (benzodiazapines) to
patients "who have unexpectedly become conscious."

The
Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations
(JCAHO) released Sentinel Event Alert Issue 32, Preventing and Managing
the Impact of Anesthesia Awareness, on October 6, 2004. The specific
recommendations set forth in this document show a clear understanding
of the entire spectrum of anesthesia awareness.

The
Anesthesia Awareness Campaign is hopeful that the ASA membership and
ASA House of Representatives, in this, the Society's 100th Anniversary
year, will continue to move toward the most patient-safety oriented
practice: that is, making the use of brain activity monitoring routine
in all general anesthesia surgeries. The final practice advisory really
needs to go a step further than to recommend brain activity monitoring
on an individual case by case basis; the advisory needs to recommend
monitoring - period.September 13, 2005

Below is a letter I
wrote to the author of an editorial titled Temporarily Asleep or
Comatose ) A copy was also sent to the Director of Communications of
the ASA.

Dear Mr. Hall,

I received a forward of your editorial about the lack of action in our
country - characterized as "anesthesia awareness." I can't agree more!

However, lest there be any doubt in your mind about the reality and
devastation of anesthesia awareness as a medical phenomenon, I would
welcome the chance to speak to you! In fact, one awareness victim who
lived in New Orleans a couple of weeks ago wrote to me and said the
hurricane, the lack of response, being a refugee, losing everything she
and her family owned was NOTHING compared to her anesthesia awareness
experience.

Don't get me wrong -- I realize what you are writing about, and I agree
that almost nothing was done correctly in responding to Katrina -- or
poverty in the US -- or poor health care -- or our foreign policy -- or
our morals -- or any number of other "failures."

But right now the American Society of Anesthesiologists is getting
ready to make a very serious decision on the use of brain activity
monitoring in surgery -- something that has been proven (in the case of
one manufacturer) to reduce the incidence of life-wrecking, emotional
terrorism by as much as 82%! (Refer back to the US News and World
Report article). This is real! Believe it or not, there are even
anesthesiologists who do not acknowledge "awareness of awareness." The
ASA has not used the most commonly-known term "anesthesia awareness" to
describe this problem for many months now. They have developed an array
of less graphic descriptors.

I would welcome the opportunity to speak with you about "real" anesthesia awareness as an issue unto itself.

Thank you for adding one more article under the search terms "anesthesia awareness!"

Sincerely,

Shortly after I personally experienced anesthesia awareness -- being
awake but unable to move while supposedly under full general anesthesia
-- while having my eye removed, I vowed to make it my mission to
prevent even one person from experiencing the same horror and
long-lasting consequences.

Methods to reach this goal include:

Making the public aware of the problem.

Getting the anesthesia community to admit and deal with their problems
in allowing awareness to happen, be it through lack of attention, or
mainly, failure to use available brain activity monitors.

The costs Anesthesia Awareness Campaign are being borne totally by my
own personal commitment of time, money, energy, and outreach and
research; along with a few monetary gifts. The campaign in no way
"makes" any money.

The Anesthesia Awareness Campaign, Inc., is a legally tax exempt and a non-profit organization under IRS rules.
Contributions and contacts can be made by contacting: